Guardian writer Simon Mills unearths some brilliant material in his recent article about the return of afternoon tea. There is, he says, “actually something distinctly zeitgeisty, hip, even subversive about afternoon tea at the moment”.
Among other startling facts, Mills reports that Moby, the shaved musician, has a teashop, Teany, in Manhattan “where the trendies can select their favourite brew from 98 different varieties of leaf. And in Los Angeles, tea aficionados Matt Damon, Renée Zellweger and Jodie Foster like to hang out at the Elixir tea bar.” (The tea-as-fashion-statement is also explored in a piece headed "Tea with Madonna" on the to-be-investigated-further Tea Muse website.)
Mills meanwhile, also reveals that The Ritz London has four daily sittings of its £35 afternoon tea starting at 11 o’clock in the morning and finishing with a fifth sitting – a champagne tea (which sounds like me). For any of the sessions there’s a six-week waiting period.
And then I remember. I have my own tea fetish. Two days ago I drove across town to my favourite tea shop to stock up on a blend I have come to love from the Japanese tea company Lupicia (in Melbourne, it’s at 199 Toorak Road and on level 2 of the QV building). The tea I love is Momo Oolong, which I gather is oolong infused with the fragrance and flavour of white peach. (Lupicia’s Japanese-language website isn’t illuminating on how this is done, or on much else for that matter. NB, August 2008: There's now an English-language Lupicia website.) Momo is sublime to sniff and a little less overwhelming than some of Lupicia’s other flavoured teas, including a walloping cherry-infused number. I’m sipping now another Lupicia purchase – a “plantation specified” unadulterated oolong from Taiwan – that I’m just as tickled with. If nothing else, there’s something wonderful about the way the leaves unfurl to the touch of the water – a little like wakame?
If you take your afternoon tea at The Ritz London, you can order a Taiwanese oolong which, in a quaint, colonial way, is described as being from “Formosa – Taiwan”. Unlikely though, that you’ll find the brilliant Italian Castagnaccio cake (below) on The Ritz’s menu which, bless its British heart, sticks with egg mayonnaise sandwiches and scones with clotted Devonshire tea.
A pity really, because the dense, chestnut-flour-based Castagnaccio is a wonderful, unlikely surprise. From what I can gather, it’s a cake of ancient origins that is found in the mountainous, chestnut-growing regions of Tuscany (although one source I found said it has regional variations – anise or fennel seed on versions made in Emilia-Romagna, for example, instead of rosemary in the Tuscan model.)
The simple, superb recipe here, adapted by my friend Meaghan, gives a slightly lighter result than might be found in Tuscany. It's brilliant for breakfast, lunch, dinner or afternoon tea and may be even better with a cup of Taiwanese oolong.
Chestnut Flour, Raisin and Rosemary Cake
(Castagnaccio)
125g chestnut flour (from good Italian food stores; should be stored in the fridge as it goes rancid quickly)
125g SR flour
¼ tsp salt
150g butter, chopped
240g brown sugar
1tsp bicarb soda (baking soda)
1 cup milk
1 egg
55g raisins (1/3 cup), soaked in hot water for 30 minutes then drained
2 tbsp rosemary leaves
40g (1/4 cup) pinenuts
2tbsp olive oil
Line base and sides of an 18x28cm lamington tin with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Process flours, salt and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (or do it the old-fashioned way and rub butter into flours with your fingertips until the same result is achieved). Add brown sugar and process until combined. Press half the flour mixture over the base of prepared tin.
Whisk bicarb soda, milk and egg in a bowl until well-combined. Add remaining flour mixture and raisins to egg mixture, mix well and pour over base.
Scatter with rosemary and pinenuts and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in tin. Keeps well in an air-tight container for two days.
Serves 8-10.
